ChatGPT’s Role in the Education System: Insights from the Future Secondary Teachers

Abstract

Nowadays, the fast evolution of educational technology boosted by AI tools like ChatGPT urges to understand how future educators perceive its use in the education system. This study evaluates the knowledge and attitudes towards ChatGPT of future teachers enrolled in science (Biology, Physics, Chemistry) and humanities (Spanish Language and Literature) modules at the University of León (Spain). To achieve this goal, a non-experimental, descriptive, cross sectional, and quantitative research design has been carried out. A sample of 70 Master of Secondary Education students completed a validated questionnaire. The aim was to gauge the level of their prior knowledge about ChatGPT and to analyze their double perception as both students and future educators. Our findings indicate that prospective secondary educators generally perceive ChatGPT as a beneficial tool for students. As future teachers, they identify certain advantages in using tools like ChatGPT to enhance teaching performance. However, they are concerned about the difficulty of detecting plagiarism and the potential decrease in students’ critical thinking skills. These two aspects are viewed as threats to the quality of the educational system. This study highlights differences between future science and humanities teachers. Notably, educators with a humanities background are more worried about information quality, creativity, and academic integrity compared to their science counterparts. This work highlights the need to address customized strategies for incorporating AI into the educational system through specific training that takes into account the prior education of students and teachers.

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